Food donation deliveries for families hardest hit by coronavirus crisis in Spain’s Costa Almeria

SPECIAL COLLABORATION: The council did the distribution duties to ensure the elderly charity volunteers were not exposed to possible Covid-19 infection CREDIT: Ayuntamiento de Huercal-Overa

HUERCAL-OVERA households particularly hard hit by the coronavirus crisis have this week been benefiting from food donations.
Working in collaboration with the Caritas charity, the local council has been delivering non-perishable foodstuffs donated by the Food Bank and transported to the municipality by the Red Cross to the vulnerable families.
Prior to the distribution, the Caritas premises used as the centre of operations was on Monday thoroughly disinfected in compliance with the State of Alarm health, safety and hygiene measures established by the authorities. Then after the two lorries loaded with the foodstuffs arrived on Tuesday the Public Services Company cleaning personnel disinfected the premises all over again and prepared the packages for each family.

CREDIT: Ayuntamiento de Huercal-Overa.

The council pointed out it has a “fluid collaboration” with the local branch of Caritas, which has been using the premises owned by the municipality for many years, but explained that the links between the two entities are set to become closer under a new agreement on financial cooperation.
This year’s municipal budget includes a grant to go towards the usual transport costs of transporting the Food Bank items which the Ministry of Agriculture supplies to Caritas several times a year to give to the needy.
Given the current crisis situation and the activation of the Municipal Emergencies Plan, the local authority offered a special collaboration, as the Huercal-Overa mayor Francisca Lourdes Fernandez explained.
“The Caritas volunteers, who usually deliver the packages to the families, are of an advanced age and therefore high-risk, as their director informed the Social Services department in March.
“Conscious of the times we are living in, the council immediately offered its support with its own personnel on the job of distribution.”
It was agreed to carry out the distribution after Easter as municipal and community Social Services are guaranteeing that residents who need assistance are getting daily basic necessities.

Author badge placeholder
Written by

Cathy Elelman

Cathy Elelman is the local writer for the Costa de Almeria edition of the Euro Weekly News.

Based in Mojacar for the last 21 years, Cathy is very much part of the local community and is always well and truly up on all the latest news and events going on in this region of Spain.

Her top goals are to do the best job she can informing the local English-speaking community, visitors to the area and the wider world about about the news in Almeria, to learn something new every day, and to embrace very new challenge this fast-changing world brings her way.

Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews

Comments